Faith in Action for 250 years
We began our 250th celebrations with a Gala in May 2009, which featured Sam Waterston who gave a dramatic reading of the stories of parishioners who put their faith into action during the church's 250 year history.
The 250th anniversary celebration of the Church took place over three years, beginning with a Choral Evensong on September 21, 2008, 250 years to the day of when the cornerstone was laid for what is now St. Peter’s Church, and culminating in September, 2011 with a commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the date of the first service on September 4, 1761.
Special concerts, lectures, exhibitions and other interpretive events were held to commemorate the long history and continuity of the Church, its many contributions to the neighborhood and greater Philadelphia, and its “Faith in Action” for 250 years.
Historic St. Peter's Church Preservation Corporation has created a special website to commemorate this anniversary. It can be found here.
Book Released
To memorialize this anniversary, St. Peter's has put together a collection of historical essays by accomplished authors and members of the congragation. Published by Temple University Press, the book St. Peter's Church is a glorious testament to our church. In addition to the stories and a hundred plus black-and-white and color photographs, this handsome volume provides a history of the grounds, the churchyard, and the church itself—a classic example of eighteenth-century Philadelphia design that later incorporated the work of renowned architects William Strickland, Thomas U. Walter, and Frank Furness. By Cordelia Frances Biddle, Elizabeth S. Browne, Alan J. Heavens, and Charles Peitz. It is available for sale at Head House Books for $35.
Past Events
250th Anniversary Service
Sunday, September 18, 2011, 10 am
Special festival service to commemorate the anniversary of the first service at St. Peter's.
The People of St. Peter's in Changing Times
Fall 2011
In the parlor of 313 Pine St. This exhibition will look at St. Peter's role in the community as it faced the issues of independence and slavery, immigration and industrialitzation, and the decline and rebirth of Society Hill with documents and artifacts from the church collections and other area institutions.
Absalom Jones’s Neighborhood:
Reaching for Freedom, Dignity and Justice
On Thursday, March 24, 2011, Dr. Gary B. Nash, one of the country's most respected historians on early American history and professor emeritus at the University of California, Los Angeles, explored the life and environs of former slave Absalom Jones, who founded the first African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas, and led the way to freedom, dignity and justice for all African-Americans. Jones was owned by Benjamin Wynkoop, a pew-holder at St. Peter’s in the 18th century and it was here that he was married to another slave, Mary, and ordained to be a deacon of the Episcopal Church.
Lo! What a Cloud of Witnesses
On Sunday, February 27, 2011, the St. Peter's Choir presented a concert to commemorate the saints who are memorialized on the church walls and/or buried in the churchyard. Since it opened its doors in 1761, St. Peter's Church has included in its membership many people of military, cultural, and political significance. The concert included brief biographical sketches along with music relating to their lives and times. Works performed include anthems of Francis Hopkinson, who was a signer of the Declaration of Independence; and Rayner Taylor and Benjamin Carr, who were both early American musicians and music directors of St. Peter's Church. In addition, anthems by 20th– and 21st–century composers Barry Rose, Debra Scroggins, Daniel Shapiro and Maurice Duruflé were sung.
Celebrating Stephen Decatur
On Thursday, May 20, 2010, St. Peter's held a celebration of the great American naval hero Stephen Decatur, who is buried in St. Peter’s Churchyard. The eagle on top of the monument marking his grave was restored by John Carr of Milner + Carr Conservation, who has been restoring many of the grave markers in the St. Peter’s Churchyard over the past decade. Attendees gathered in his fascinating studio in Fishtown to see his work on the eagle. “Thomas Jefferson” gave a presentation about the amazing exploits of Decatur, who brought down the infamous Barbary pirates — who had been preying on the fledgling U.S Navy in the early 1800s — in the famous 1803-04 Battle of Tripoli off present day Libya. Commodore Decatur was a hero of the War of 1812, fighting in many battles, then he died in Washington in 1820 from wounds inflicted in a duel. His remains were moved to his family’s plot in St. Peter’s churchyard in 1846. The monument marking his grave was installed at that time. The eagle was reinstalled atop the monument in a special ceremony on September 18, 2010.
Our Bishop: The Forgotten Founding Father
In December of 2009, professor William Pencak, William White scholar and author, gave a lecture at The Athenaeum of Philadelphia.
50 Minutes
In October of 2009, during our regular Sunday morning adult education class, Daniel K. Richter, Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania and Director of Penn's McNeil Center for Early American Studies presented a lecture series on Philadelphia Politics and Religion in the 1760s. He explored significant features of life in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania at the time of St. Peter's founding in 1761-63.
250th Anniversary Kick-off with Sam Waterston
The 250th anniversary of Saint Peter's Church was celebrated at a reception and dinner on Saturday, May 2, 2009 with special guest Sam Waterston.
Award-winning stage, screen and television actor Sam Waterston, best known for his portrayal of District Attorney Jack McCoy on Law & Order, brought to life through dramatic reading the stories of parishioners who put their faith into action during the church's 250 year history, noting the parallel paths of the church and the country as they both struggled with issues of independence, slavery, immigration and industrialization.
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